I'm learning a new song right now. For those of you who don't know me very well...singing is my biggest passion. I do it for me and in no public arena and it is the most satisfying feeling to belt out the words of a kick ass fast song or a heart wrenching ballad depending on my mood. Being a person who keeps her emotions often reeled in and is the queen of control...it's my way of letting go. It's the one way, I can let go...let go all the way. I get to experience the emotions by singing it even if it is not something I've ever been through. I guess the way an actor feels a character they portray. There have been many times when I have been depressed or angry and really the best friend for me to turn to is my microphone. An hour or so of pouring all of me into a set of songs and I'm a new person.
Tonight's song is "Lay Down My Life" by the timeless queen of written song, Carole King. Have you heard this song? The version I'm immersed in is just Carole and her piano. The power and emotion she packs into this love song left me speechless the first time I heard it. I had the pleasure of hearing this song for the first time LIVE at the Greek Theater during her Living Room tour in 2004. Every time I listen to it since that night, the power and emotion of that performance and the song's meaning hit me. Tonight I decided that I need to add it to my personal singing set.
It's a raw depiction of a love, a love that feels so right though it is wrong. It is amazing when love can exist so strong and cause people to have no control over their hearts sometimes against the odds. Just sharing a love like that binds them together forever from the experience even if they never see each other again. Think about that, love can be that powerful. Singing the song makes me feel immersed in the power of that kind of love, a love that knows no limits, no bounds, just is. No matter what.
3 comments:
Tess, I know how you feel. I am the same way when it comes to singing. It is the one way that I can share a part of myself to the world, even if I am by myself. BTW, where can I hear the song your discussing? Sounds good.
Craig
Hey, Craig B? I have two Craig's I send to! We have to fuel the fire of our passions! I'm not sure where you can hear it other than through me! Lol...I have it. Here are the lyrics...
The Living Room Tour
Lay Down My Life
Carole King
As I walk away
My world comes tumbling down
That's allright
You'll go home again without me
Where will I go tomorrow
It doesn't matter, if you want me to stay
Should I turn around, come back to you
Or should I keep on walking away
It feels so good with you
It feels so right with you
But I will bring you sorrow
If I stay with you
Now if I hurt you, forgive me
Try not to lose faith in me
You know I would never hurt you intentionally
What will I do tomorrow
Without your love I would surely lose my way
And rush headlong into nowhere
On a ghost highway
It feels so good with you
It feels so right with you
But I will bring you sorrow
If I stay with you
I would lay down my life for you
I kept going on, when going on
Made no real sense at all
But it's no good now, it's all clear to me
Now that my back is against the wall
How will you get through tomorrow
It doesn't matter, I know you will
And we'll be together forever
Bound by the way we made each other feel
And I will lay down my life for you
I will lay down my life for you
'Cause it feels so good with you
Yes, it feels so right with you
I will lay down my life for you
A little birdie has it that this song is on the following Carole King CDs: A) The Living Room Tour, and B) Colour of Your Dreams.
It's a fantastic song, and I personally like it live better, with just the piano--it's more raw the way she sings it, and the emotions in that song are raw (it's a song you sing to someone who isn't there, in your dark apartment at 3 in the morning), so it fits better.
Great singing choice, Tess!! I hope to get to hear you do it once you're comfortable with it!
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